Impacts of Institutional Changes in Cambodia under the Pol Pot Regime

This paper presents an econometric analysis of impacts of the communist revolution by the Khmer Rouge (1975-’79) in Cambodia on economic behaviors of survivors after 1979. Specifically, we compare forced marriages in the Pol Pot regime with regular marriages after its collapse, and make econometric evaluations of their educational investments for children. Our econometric results are interpreted as meaning that forced-marriage couples invested less in their children’s education than the regular-marriage couples. We consider those results, by reflecting upon social and political structures of Cambodia under and after the Pol Pot regime.